Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

After a brief respite, work in the vineyard has begun again in earnest.  It’s time to evaluate just how many buds have made it through winter, then make an educated guess at how many to leave for the upcoming season.  We look at things like bud viability, cane density, internodal gap distance, and the long-range forecast before making our first cuts.

Generally, we prune our vines back to two trunks, each housing a cane of ten or so buds.  We’ve been lucky with a mild winter to this point and bud viability is relatively high compared to previous years.  However, one frigid night can quickly change this rosy outlook, so as an insurance measure we’ll leave a third cane on one of the trunks just in case March decides to go out like a lion.  This third cane is left untied early in the spring then either cut off or tied down at a later date based on how many total buds survive through the dreaded frost window.

The art of pruning may seem like a boring, monotonous chore to some, but I actually quite enjoy it.  I look at each vine as a blank canvas, ready to be fashioned into a viticultural masterpiece.  Laugh not, for the responsibility to empower a vine to produce stellar fruit should not be taken lightly.  This important task of renewal sets the tone for the year ahead and restarts the cycle of life.  With each successive snip of the pruners, it’s hard not to anticipate and envision the bounty this vine will bring us in the fall.

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Congratulations to all Cuvee 2010 Award winners!  I applaud all those whose hard work and vision created a work of art that was recognized by their peers as exceptional.  From the grape growers to the winemakers; the cellar hands to the lab rats, all deserve the highest of praise.

The evening itself more than lived up to my expectations.  A packed room of enthusiastic wine lovers streamed around like kids on Christmas morning, eyes wide and not knowing which present to open next.  The food stations were splendid and really helped highlight the true stars of the night - the wines.

The proudest part of the Cuvee experience for me occurred just after stepping away from our table for a few moments to grab a bite to eat.  Upon returning, I was inspired by the size of the crowd around our table and the joy in my parents’ faces as they merrily poured samples and held court.  It dawned on me that we’d reached a milestone this night, and accomplished it together as a family.  In many ways it legitimized the risks and stress involved in our journey thus far.  To have our wines showcased alongside award-winning juggernauts like Creekside, Fielding, Flat Rock and Thirty Bench was truly a thrill.

Based on the amount of “repeat pours” and those who were “sent to try your Cab”  I would conclude that our wines were very well received.  A few of my winemaking colleagues even noted a distinct “Five Rows buzz” in the air, but I actually think they may have been sensing the sheer amount of alcohol being metabolized in the room that night.

Monday, February 8th, 2010

One of the marquee events on the Ontario wine scene is the annual Cuvée celebration held every February.  Although fruit from Lowrey Vineyards has graced award-winners in years past, Cuvée 2010 marks the first time our own wines will be showcased and we’re very excited to attend.  You will hear words like “Oscar’s”, “Pomp”, and “Circumstance” used to describe the event, but simply put, it’s a weekend-long showcase of our best stuff.  It’s billed as more celebration than competition, but I assure you that all participating winemakers will secretly have their fingers crossed in hopes of a podium appearance on Gala Night.  Trust me though, based on some of the stupendous wines I tasted at the judging event last month, I won’t be penning any anticipatory acceptance speeches anytime soon!

Due to the 50-case minimum production requirement, we were only able to enter our 2008 Pinot Gris and 2008 Sauvignon Blanc into the competition.  Those visiting our winery over the February 19-21 weekend will get to sample those two wines along with our 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon (45 cases produced).   Our barn will be open to the public all three days of Cuvée from 11-5.  Tastings, as always, are complimentary.  Tickets to the Gala event and Cuvée en Route passes can be purchased here, with proceeds going to the Niagara Community Foundation.  I encourage all those with a keen interest in tasting some of Ontario’s best wines to attend and join in the fun.

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Our 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon took a road trip recently, and ended up finding a new home in our nation’s capital.  Beckta Dining & Wine, on Nepean Street in Ottawa, is the latest member of our extended Five Rows family.  I haven’t had the opportunity to dine there yet, but countless “foodie” acquaintances have assured me that our wine is in good hands.  The refreshing philosophy at Beckta is to “change involved and sometimes intimidating culinary experiences into the comfortable and remarkable”.  Sounds like my kind of place!

Closer to home, Five Rows was recently featured in an article by wine writer Rick VanSickle of the St. Catharines Standard.  You can read it here.

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Finally…some quality time with Lucy!

I get a chuckle when I look at how much she’s changed over her first nine months of life.  Here is the pictorial evidence.

Friday, January 15th, 2010

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

At 8:03 AM on January 2nd, a new era began at Lowrey Vineyards.  As the sun peeked over the escarpment we welcomed the dawn of our very own “Ice Age”.   After an evening of perfect freezing conditions (-12 degrees Celsius) it was decided to harvest five rows of Cabernet Sauvignon, our first foray into the world of Icewine.  A beautiful morning unfolded before us, with a light snow gently filtering the weak rays of winter sun.  It soon became clear that picking the fruit and braving the cold are the easy part, and actually quite enjoyable.

To understand the travails of pressing frozen grapes to yield minute amounts of juice, I want you to imagine trying to squeeze a tray of ice cubes in an effort to produce water.  It takes equal amounts of pressure and patience I assure you!  Too much of the former and not enough of the latter can lead to problems…big problems.  Less than a minute into the second press load I cranked up the pressure and was horrified to hear the sickening hiss of a slow leak in the press bladder.  Luckily we had a back-up bladder on hand, but the subsequent dismantling of the press load and bladder re-assembly really set us back.  In the end, patience prevailed and the luscious Cab juice began to flow.  It was thick, sweet and full of super-concentrated flavours of ripe strawberry and raspberry.

At this stage the plan is to make a traditional Icewine, but I could be persuaded to ferment it a little longer for those seeking more of a drier, “late harvest” style.  Initial feedback tells me that Icewine is often perceived as being “too sweet” for some palates (including mine at times), but I challenge those people to try Cabernet  Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc Icewine with dark chocolate or strong cheeses.  Simply delectable!

Sunday, December 6th, 2009

Just a couple of quick Five Rows announcements as we head into the Holiday season.  First off, we’ve added our three newest releases to the bottle registry section of the website.  I would like to make a personal request to all those who have recently enjoyed a bottle to please share your comments.   This will help a great deal as I decide stylistically which way to go with upcoming vintages.

We’ll be open for the next two weekends (December 12-13 & 19-20) before concluding our weekend retail hours until Cuvee in February (19-21).  As always, we are happy to see visitors at any time over the winter by appointment.  For those looking to find the perfect holiday gift, my mother has been busy putting together special Christmas packaging and thus far it’s been a big hit.   Please call or email soon if you’d like a case delivered by Christmas.  I’d be happy to personalize the box label, just let me know.

Monday, November 30th, 2009

As the harvest of 2009 comes to a close I find myself in a nostalgic state of mind, reflective of the intense year that we’ve just experienced.  In this time we nervously launched a winery, opened our barn to visitors, sold out of our first vintage and managed to carve ourselves out a small niche in the local wine scene.

In a recent radio interview, I was asked to shed a little more light on this experience.   You can listen to it here.

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

2008 Sauvignon Blanc:

Crafting aromatic white wines requires good fruit, patience and above all temperature control!  In small wineries like ours we aren’t afforded the luxury of temperature-controlled tanks to aid in maintaining the ideal fermentation conditions.   Instead, my barrels of 2008 Sauv Blanc went on a merry-go-round tour of our barn for about a month until ferment was over.  First outside to settle after pressing, then inside to warm for yeast inoculation, quickly into the cold room as the the ferment really starts to rock, back out of the cold room to finish-up as yeast start to become stressed, finally back into cold room at 4 Celsius to stop ferment at the desired sugar-acid balance.

I decided to use a yeast called X5 for this wine because it boasts to “help reveal varietal aromas rich in citrus, boxtree and tropical fruit while contributing light fresh floral notes”.  In the early stages it was apparent that X5 was the right choice.   I was impressed with the  lychee and pineapple aromatics that got stronger with each successive day.  There was still some classic cool-climate Sauv Blanc citrus (lime zest) detectable as well, with hints of vanilla, fig and flint.  The use of older French oak barrels was most evident on the palate, softening the edges of this zesty wine. Bottled on September 14th, 2009.

Cases: 64                   Alcohol:  12.0%              Price: $25/bottle